Friday, June 15, 2012

Daily 5 & Houghton Mifflin

This is the schedule of my day and how I use Houghton Mifflin along with Daily 5.

We have a phonics program and I use it first thing in the morning 8:45. I spend about 12 minutes teaching and then for 10 minutes the students are doing workbook pages. While they are doing their workbook pages I'm checking homework, doing lunch count, and taking attendance. This is the warm up part of our day. At 9:00 we stop because my kids switch classes for enrichment time. On my team we split up the kids that are below, on, and above grade level and give them reading enrichment/interventions during this time.

At 9:30 I get my class back and we start with whole group reading for 30-45 minutes so we end around 10:00. This is the time that I do Houghton Mifflin. I start with a quick phonemic awareness or phonics activity, teach the words to know, and mostly teach the comprehension strategy of the week. I know there is so much more in Houghton Mifflin but I take out what I think is important. On Monday I do a read aloud to model the comprehension strategy, Tuesday I read the story of the week or we listen to it online, Wednesday we read the story of the week together, Thursday my students buddy read the story, Friday my students read on their own. I teach the comprehension strategy before and we discuss how we used it after reading. I of course ask questions throughout the reading as well. After we read the story of the week they do their workbook pages. (I know this will change some next year because we have to align to the Common Core but this is the method I have been using.) I give 10 minutes for the workbook pages and if they aren't finished then they may finish up in Word Work before they play any games or take out any activities.

Then we start the Daily 5 around 10:00. I remind them quickly of the rules during Daily 5, remind them of our comprehension strategy, and then let my students pick where they want to go. During this time I pull groups for guided reading/book studies/assessments/one-on-one reading help. I use HM leveled readers and reading records in small group with the kids. We have one hour to complete all 5 so they are in each one rotation for 12 minutes. This is perfect for the beginning of the year and then towards the end I will cut it down to 4 rotations for 15 minutes. Since they only get to choose 4 I have them pick their 5th choice 1st the next day. (So if they completed read to self, read to someone, word work, and listening then they would start with writing the next day.) I ring a bell to let the students know it is time to switch and they all clean up and meet me on the floor to pick again and continue. So yes it would take the place of literacy centers/stations. After the last rotation we clean up and go to lunch at 11:10. I know it is not exactly how the framework of Daily 5 goes but it is what works for me within the constrictions of what I have to do at my school.

After lunch we have writing for 45 minutes and then go to recess for 20 minutes. Then we come back in from recess and have math for one hour. I split my math up into whole group math for 30-45 minutes and then small group/centers for 30-45 minutes. After math we have science or social studies (Science M, Tu, Th) (Social Studies W, F). Then my students have specials for one hour. After they come back we pack up, eat snack, read a story, and go home.

I hope this helps you out and again feel free to ask any questions I may have not answered.

11 comments:

Thanks for this post! I want to implement the Daily Five, but am required to use my basal's main story and resources, so this definitely got me thinking!LisaFourth and TenLike Fourth and Ten on Facebook!Formerly Stories From Second

I also use Houghton Mifflin and I appreciate how you explained your morning. I find it soo hard to accomplish all they ask in HM. If you have a sample of a lesson plan I would love to see it. Astabler@bureauvalley.net

Hi Jess, I just found your blog because I spotted the HM title on someone's sidebar. I'm in K5 and we are adopting HM Journeys next year. Are you using Journeys? What do you think about the HM leveled readers? Previously we've had Rigby which for K5 was leveled 1-5. This was basically AA, AA-A, A-B, B, B-C. Do your have your HM leveled books ordered as a continuum or do you coordinate them with the Whole Group selection? I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around the arrangement of the Guided Reading books.

I am lucky that we are being encouraged to use the HM resources as we see fit as a part of a good balanced literacy program.

Hey Donna, I don't use Journeys so I can't help you there. The HM leveled readers I have are great. I use them during guided reading/small group time and do not use them at all in whole group. I have below, on , and above leveled reading books and use them with my students according to their reading levels. Most of my above grade level students though read past the above grade level readers so I have them read chapter books. You have to find what works best for you in using the materials but I find this is the best way for me.

Thanks for the answer. Our leveled readers seem to be the same; below, on and above. I'm used to a progression of levels 1-5, so I'm curious how do you have your children progress through them. Is there an obvious easier to harder within each of the levels?

I am a new blogger and am enjoying reading your posts about D5. I just started my blog two days ago because I wanted to be part of Lory's Book Study on DAILY 5 and CAFE. I am so excited and I love learning about reading also. It was interesting reading your blog about your day. My day went similar to yours except I only had about 40-45 minutes of D5. Next year, I am really going to try and implement the CAFE into my reading block and have focus lessons (7-10 minutes)for phonics, comprehension and writing. I did not do a very good job of that last year but my DAILY 5 went fabulous. It was amazing how much my students learned by reading, reading, and reading. AND to top that off, the students LOVED IT! :)

It was great to read your post as it is very similar to the way my morning runs. I have to use Harcourt, but use the Daily 5 in place of my literacy stations. We will also be inplementing Common Core this year. I have to say I did not use read to partner during this time as I like it quiet during the reading block. I do that later in the day. Choice is the one area that I haven't implemented. Reading everyone's posts is making me reconsider this.

Hi Jess,Thank you for sharing your daily schedule. I was surprised to see that your school has implemented an intervention/enrichment time. We are planning to do the same next year so I wonder if you wouldn't mind answering a few questions. We have played around with 30 or 45 min. Does 30 min. work for you? What staff is involved (SPED teacher, resource teacher, ESOL) or is it just classroom teachers? Does everyone in the school participate at the same time? What do you typically do during this time? One more, when do students go home? Your day seems super long. Thank you

Thank you for all your questions. I will answer them all hopefully in my post tomorrow about enrichment and intervention time! As for time during the day my students start at 8:30 and end at 3:00. It does seem like along day but it may be just the way it's spaced out. Thanks for reading!

Welcome to my blog! I have been teaching for seven years in early elementary. I taught Kindergarten for one year and have taught 1st for six years. Now I am on to a new adventure in 2nd grade! My undergraduate degree is in Early Childhood Education and my masters is in Reading Education. I also tutor students in third through fifth grade in reading before school. I love teaching elementary school and have a passion for reading! I got hooked on blogging when I saw all the amazing and inspiring things other teachers were doing. This is a little glimpse into my world as a teacher. Thanks for stopping by my to read my ramblings. :)